Description
Advocacy is working with or on behalf of people to exercise their rights and gain access to resources. Capacity building is helping people develop the confidence and ability to assume increasing control over decisions and resources that affect their health and well-being. Community capacity building involves promoting individual and collective empowerment through education, skill development, networking, organizing, and strategic partnerships. Capacity building requires planning, cooperation, and commitment, and it may involve working to change public awareness, organizational rules, institutional practices, or public policy.
Advocacy and capacity building go hand-in-hand and can help create conditions and build relationships that lead to better health.
During our training, participants will learn to:
- Encourage clients to identify and prioritize their personal, family, and community needs
- Encourage clients to identify and use available resources to meet their needs and goals
- Provide information and support for people to advocate for themselves over time and to participate in the provision of improved services
- Advocate on behalf of clients and communities, as appropriate, to assist people to attain needed care or resources in a reasonable and timely fashion
- Apply principles and skills needed for identifying and developing community leadership
- Build and maintain networks, and collaborate with appropriate community partners in capacity building activities
- Use a variety of strategies, such as role-modeling, to support clients in meeting objectives, depending on challenges and changing conditions